Atom-based clocks and sensors offer quantum enhancement over their classical counterparts, but many applications have been hindered by the size, weight, and power of existing laboratory systems. Recently, advances in compact vacuum technology, microfabricated traps, and integrated photonics show promising avenues toward deployable solutions for precision navigation and timing (PNT) applications. One such application is atomic clocks, which form the basis for modern communication and navigation. While many atomic clocks are room-sized systems requiring bulky free space optics and detectors, the Trapped-Ion Clock using Technology-On-Chip (TICTOC) project at Sandia National Laboratory aims to integrate these components into existing surface trap technology via waveguides for beam delivery and avalanche photodiodes for light detection. Here, I discuss the characterization of systematics unique to surface trap technology with integrated waveguides and present the first room-temperature detection of a trapped ion using monolithically integrated single photon avalanche photodiodes (SPADs).
Host: Boris Blinov